My 2021 "Year in Running" 🏃‍♂️

I can hardly believe the year 2021 is over!

Well, this year turned out better than I expected, by a long shot. Here's the link to last year's summary and my expectations for this year.

I expected to spend most of this year on the treadmill. And while the first quarter of the year was heavily based in treadmill mileage, once spring came around, I headed back to the outdoors and my mileage ramped up significantly. Add to that our unseasonably warm autumn and winter this calendar year, and I've had a far more successful year than I expected. 

I ran roughly 600 more miles than last year. Another metric I checked was runs in excess of 20 miles. In 2020, I only ran 2 runs that were 20 miles in length or longer - a summer solstice marathon and a fall colors run. But in 2021, I ran 10 runs that exceeded the 20 mile distance, and one that was over 30! I feel so much healthier on my runs, as my endurance is up. 

I ran a total of 1816.7 miles this year. I ran on 185 days out of the year, which averages out to 9.8 miles per run and 34.9 miles per week.

Here are some of the highlights of this year's runs:

* My first venture to the mountains for the year, when I went into the deep Rampart Range near Palmer Lake.

* Scrambling on the Dragon's Backbone in Cheyenne Mountain State Park. 

* My summer solstice run on the east slopes of Mt. Rosa.

* Scrambling up the slopes of Almagre Mountain, several different routes, including from the south gully. 

* Finding stunning fall colors right here in Bear Creek Canyon. 

* Gazing at glorious winter sunsets, on my last big mountain run of this year.

Looking ahead to 2022, I don't plan to have a total mileage goal in the same way I did this year. This year, my monthly mileage averaged out to about 150 miles per month. I would like to keep a 100-mile-a-month minimum for next year, just to keep me on track. However, instead of focusing on a total yearly mileage goal, I'd like to invest into a few specific goals instead.

* Running a 50-mile+ run. No specific details on the route yet, but I have a few ideas kicking around.

* Running at least a few segments of the Colorado Trail, one or two segments at a time. 

* Running some iconic, bucket-list routes.

* More big point-to-point adventures!

* Not a running goal, but I really want to set out a defined plan for my weightlifting and become consistent with it. I enjoy weightlifting and find time to do it sometimes; however, I have been anything but consistent in the last year.

Overall, I'm excited and positive about the coming year.

***

Now for a short review of my last few runs of the year. 

Sunday, December 26th, 2021:

It was really windy in the mid-afternoon when I set out for this run. I wore my Fall Series zip-up hoodie, opting for a warmer/thicker top layer than just a long sleeve shirt.

The first mile I battled some bitter winds and wondered if I'd dressed warmly enough even with the hoodie. 

But as soon as I entered the big golden winter field at the base of Palmer Park, the sun was shining on me and I was instantly too hot.

Of course, nothing lasts forever, so after the short climb up to the Palmer Point Trail, the wind came back with a bitter vengeance! I could tell that this day would be one of extremes. Almost surprising heat in the sunlit golden fields, followed by angry wind on the ridges.

Instead of trying to fight against the wind when it was directly at my face, I leaned into it and let myself almost fall against it, allowing its strength to hold my body up. At least it felt good - a gusty wind can have the side effect of making you feel very alive! 

I ran my usual new favorite route into University Park and then Austin Bluffs Open Space, enjoying the rock formations. Then I rounded the bend towards Pulpit Rock. 

The main rock formation was outstanding in the late afternoon light. 

I didn't ascend the formation today, instead following the trail at its base around to the north, watching the golden sunlight illuminating its massive walls.

I took the Pulpit Rock Loop Trail to the north and then back towards the east, reconnecting to Austin Bluffs and descending down through the UCCS bluffs before heading home.

WHEW! This was a lot of climbing for an in-town run. I got over 3000 feet of climbing in just under 15 miles. 

***

Tuesday, December 28th, 2021:

In the morning, I did a few weights, but not too intensively (since it's been a while).

* Dumbbell side lateral raises 

* Dumbbell squats - LIGHT weights

* Standing machine pull-downs 

Later, in the afternoon, I set out for a jog. At this point I only needed 3 more miles to get 1800 for the year, but I knew I'd probably do more than that. 

I did a little exploring of my local area and found the main trail that connects to the UCCS bluffs trail. It goes up past some really neat rock formations, which are so characteristic of this part of town.

I got 10.5 miles and 1500+ feet elevation today. Over 1800 miles now! Everything from here on out is just bonus mileage.

***

Friday, December 31st, 2021:

In the morning, I did some barbell overhead presses, about 4 sets with proper form and engaging the core. No other weightlifting exercises today; but the barbell overhead press is really one of my favorite exercises. It seems to be a good exercise, when standing properly, to engage the transverse abdominus. This deep abdominal muscle is often weak in many people and one of the root causes of back pain as well as poor running form. Therefore, I'm working on engaging it more regularly when standing, sitting, and during my day-to-day activities.

In the afternoon, I did a little more than 9 miles with a little less than 1400 feet elevation to wrap up the year!

I went through the same trail as last time, ascending "Marconi Heights" via the new-to-me trail, up to the UCCS bluffs and then down the service road.

It was fun to watch the weather coming in over the mountains!

***

Well, that about wraps up the year!

Thanks for reading and I wish everyone a Happy New Year and many blessings in 2022.

(PS. I can't wait for my first long mountain run of the new year - I am going to try to make it happen soon!)

Merry Christmas 🎅!

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you're enjoying a relaxing day.

A quick update for the end of the year, merely a week away:

The weather has been so mild this month that I met and exceeded my 1700 miles for the year goal. So I decided to "reach" for my stretch goal of 1800 miles on the year. I'm currently only about 18 miles away now, and with another week left, I'm pretty confident I'll be able to make it!

I'm already beginning to reflect on my 2021 year of running, and it's been quite lovely - far better than 2020 for me. But, more on that in next week's update, which will be my yearly summary.

Picking up where I left off on the last update (after my 60 mile week), I took a few days off from running but did some decent cross-training.

***

Wednesday, December 15th, 2021:

1 hour and 15 minutes on the exercise bike.

***

Thursday, December 16th, 2021:

A really decent weightlifting workout today, including a lot of full-body movements, like deadlifts, dips, and straight-leg raises on the dip bars.

***

Friday, December 17th, 2021:

45 minutes on the rodeo core, engaging the core as much as possible. Tough one!

***

Saturday, December 18th, 2021:

7 miles, 880 feet elevation. Nice short one with a little climb.

***

Sunday, December 19th, 2021:

A flat one - 8 miles and 400 ft elevation.

***

Wednesday, December 22nd, 2021:

I set off just before dawn for a first-day-of-winter run. The air was noticeably warm, even at 5:30am. Not only was the air temperature warm, even the breeze was warm, indicating a hot day to come. "What a nice midsummer morning on this first day of winter," I thought.

I pondered climate change for a while. I realize that one warm year isn't what scientists mean when they say the climate is warming, but this feels different. I don't recall any other year having a warm breeze in the normally chilly predawn hours of the first day of winter. I wondered if the climate has reached a "tipping point" where this type of weather will become more common in years to come. 

As I came back to the present moment, a nearly-full moon above cast plenty of light, and the trail was visible even without a headlamp.

I made quick time on trails, connecting from the Palmer Point Trail to Union Meadows then going up through University Park on the urban trail that cuts right through the neighborhood. Referencing the map, this trail is called the University Park Internal Link Trail (what a mouthful!) And it leads right into Austin Bluffs Open Space, where the sunrise began to greet the mountains, bathing them in morning alpenglow.

Soon all the neat rock formations of the Austin Bluffs Open Space were lit with the rising sun, as I kept on the trail towards Pulpit Rock Park.

I had to make sure to stray neither too far north nor south, sticking to the one trail that makes the connection directly to Pulpit Rock.

A quiet day at Pulpit Rock, so I climbed the formation before descending to the northeast, making a loop back to the University Park neighborhood. 

It did get really warm once the sun rose! I was thankful I'd dressed in appropriate layers so I could wear short sleeves at this point.

The streaky clouds in the sky were lovely as I headed back towards home.

I got about 12.5 miles and 1800 feet elevation on this first-day-of-winter run. A perfect mid-length run.

***

Friday, December 24th, 2021:

An afternoon/evening jog for me today. I saw the huge storm clouds over the mountain as I set out, so I wore wind pants and a wind breaker, but I was almost instantly too warm. Thankful once again for layers, I took off the wind breaker top and ran in my Christmas-themed t-shirt for a while.

The sky was dramatic!

I ran north along Palmer Point Trail, then east along the north edge of the park on Brenner Trail. 

As I reached the northeastern corner of the park and began to ascend the mesa back towards the south, a sudden gust of wind brought icy, wet snow! I was glad now that I had the wind breaker! This little valley on the north side of the park is normally cooler than the rest of the park, but that was doubly true with the wind gusting directly out of the north. Lucky for me, since I was headed south now, it was totally at my back and pushing me uphill.

As I reached the top of the mesa, I considered just going down because I figured it may be even more cold and windy. The icy mix had turned into a more regular cold rain though, so I ran along the top of the mesa towards Grandview Overlook. 

And, as abruptly as it had begun, the wind and precipitation stopped. It suddenly got almost warm again and the roads (and me) started drying out rather quickly.

I took my time and enjoyed my run up and down the overlook, now able to see the mountains again and a fresh layer of snow on them.

As I descended from the top of the park and went back into my neighborhood, I pondered how light it was out still. Less than a month ago, I was plunged into near-total darkness before 5pm on my Mt. Rosa semi-loop.

Now, it was nearly 5:15 and the Civil twilight was still quite bright. I felt calm and happy, knowing that the earliest sunset was already several weeks ago. Even though the longest night was on the winter solstice only a few days ago, the earliest sunset was in the first week of December, and the latest sunrise is still a week or so away.

I prefer to have more sunlight later in the day, since my schedule varies and sometimes I have to squeeze in a run before sunset. Later sunsets make this a little easier.

Winter just started, but the increasing light in the early evenings makes me feel positive and looking forward to the coming season.

Other reflections on this week: I did one good weight session but haven't done much since then. A little rest for the body isn't a bad thing, but I'd like to get in another good lifting day (or two) soon.

I like to celebrate the solstices (both winter and summer) with a run. I usually like to go to the mountains, like in 2018 when I went to the Bottomless Pit junction. But this year's in-town trail run was refreshing and fulfilling. I'm thankful that I live in an ideal location in town, where I can link up multiple open spaces to create long runs almost entirely on unpaved trails.

With all that, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and enjoys these last few days of 2021. It's been an interesting one for sure, but there's so much to look forward to. I feel absolutely blessed that this is my life!

My last day in the mountains was two weeks ago, although it doesn't seem like it's been that long.

I just enjoyed that last mountain run so much, it was such a treasured day for me, that it's carried me for a long time.

I ended up running a 60-mile week that week, which is a higher volume than I expected this close to the end of the year.

After that 60-mile week, I ended up taking 3 days off from running in a row. I didn't mean to do that, but things at home were busy and I also felt the cumulative fatigue. I realize now while writing this, 3 days isn't that much. It felt like 5 days, and until I went back and checked my exercise log, I thought I had taken 5 days off.

When I finally set out again after those 3 days off, I overcompensated a little - and did a 24.5 mile run in town. That felt tougher to me than the 24 miles in the mountains. Maybe all the cement was the cause?

After that run, I switched out my shoes to a new pair and my legs, feet, and especially ankles felt instantly better. I must say, I truly love these shoes I'm currently running in - the Brooks Revel 4. They're the only shoes I've ever had that needed no breaking in whatsoever. Perfect fit straight out of the box. And I wore my last pair for way longer than I should have, but I probably wore them for well over 1000 miles. Now I just need to stock up on them, since I have no more backup pairs!

Anyhow, here's the summary of the last couple weeks:

***

Thursday, December 2nd, 2021:

12 miles in-town, up through Pulpit Rock Park. 1300 feet. Felt good doing 12 miles considering I'd just done 24 two days prior. Flexing my endurance muscle.

***

Friday, December 3rd, 2021:

9 miles, 1000 feet elevation. 

***

Saturday, December 4th, 2021:

7 miles, 850 feet.

***

Sunday, December 5th, 2021:

8 miles, 500 feet. (A flat one today - not my usual hills.)

***

Thursday, December 9th, 2021:

24.5 miles, 2600 feet. I went up past Pulpit Rock, and the clouds in the background with the light on the rock in the foreground made a really neat photo. 

Then I connected to Woodmen Rd, and ran all the way up to Blodgett Peak Open Space. It was getting dark already even though it wasn't 5pm yet. I ran up to the water tower, which would be the high point of my run tonight. I descended the trail to the south, connecting to the long, open trail that descends all the way down to the South Blodgett parking area.

The South Blodgett trail is on this exposed mesa that had an excellent view of the whole city.

After I got back to the road, I ran past Ute Valley Park on my way back home. My legs hurt for the last few miles, but I tried to draw inspiration from a podcast I'd recently listened to where Courtney Dauwalter explains how she pictures her pain cave. For her, she is digging her cave out every time she gets into it, making it larger. I like this imagery. I'd like to add a hearth and some cave paintings in my pain cave.

***

Saturday, December 11th, 2021:

9 miles, 1000 feet, and another lovely sunset. I think the clouds make the sunsets so cool.

***

Sunday, December 12th, 2021:

Unrelated to running - tonight we took the kids up to Highlands Ranch for the big Christmas light show at the Cherry Hills Church. It was really neat!

***

Monday, December 13th, 2021:

9 miles, 1000 feet. 

***

Tuesday, December 14th, 2021:

A flat one, 8 miles, 500 ft.

***

I've also done some weight lifting over the last two weeks, but mostly limited to two exercises a day. I haven't been lifting really heavy either, and I've kind of neglected to keep track of exactly what exercises I'm doing. Essentially, I am just doing a few little things each day so that I'm not doing nothing. Running has taken the front seat while the weather is still nice. But I'm sure there will be a time this winter when I'll be indoors more.

Lovely winter sunsets - at Palmer Park, and around the base of Mount Rosa.

Something about the winter air makes the sunset colors super spectacular. I've been blessed to be able to watch two amazing sunsets during runs this week.

Saturday, November 27th, 2021:

Not quite 8 miles run up in Palmer, almost 1000 ft elevation gain. My route was backwards of last time, Palmer Point Trail to Lazyland Road, then up the road to Grandview Overlook and down Paseo Rd.

The sunset colors tonight were amazing. They often are, but this was an especially impressive evening. I watched the sunset as I ran along the open stretch of road on my way down from Grandview Overlook. 

The sky was even more fantastic in person. It gave me an extra burst of speed, feeling immersed in the natural world.

***

Tuesday, November 30th, 2021:

The last two days I've taken off from exercise entirely. I had some pretty bad DOMS from my heavy lifting day on Friday. Even though I didn't feel sore whatsoever for my 8-mile run on Saturday, I felt like I could barely get out of bed on Sunday morning. I guess that's why they call it 'delayed onset.'

I didn't necessarily mean to take two days off, but Monday got too busy. I think it may have been advantageous for me though, because I finally got out for the longer mountain run that I've been craving!!

I started out today at the base of Bear Creek Canyon. I ascended High Drive - my usual entrance to the mountains these days. I connected to Captain Jack's #667 towards Mt. Buckhorn, and then continued along the Kineo Mountain bypass. 

The winter shadows were already getting long when I reached the #622 split at the base of Kineo Mountain. I was barely 6 miles in, but I suddenly hit a major low point. I felt a lack of energy in my legs, and just a general glum feeling that this segment had taken me too long. I seriously considered just topping out on Kineo and then going back down, giving up on my planned route for the day - which was a big loop around (most) of Mount Rosa's base.

Thankfully, I didn't give up yet. I just had an early low point, which I hoped to trade in on high points later in the run. I took advantage of the short downhill section on 622 to speed up a little, before connecting to Pipeline Trail #668. I got back into the sunlight for a little, which elevated my mood a bit.

There were segments of the trail that had snow along both sides, but the trail itself was melted out, likely due to the popularity of this trail as a dirtbike route. I had briefly contemplated bringing microspikes on this run today, but decided against it when looking at the mountains from my doorstep and taking an educated guess.

This ended up being the correct decision for today, as spikes were totally unnecessary. Nonetheless, it will be traction season in the mountains very soon - ice will probably start to accumulate after the next snowstorm that hits the mountains, since the valleys and north-facing trails get so little sunlight at this time of year.

I breathed deeply in the fresh air of the winter woods. One of my favorite things about this time of year in the mountains is just how crisp the air is.

The spot that I was most concerned about encountering ice on the trail was the big hill on #668 just after Nelson's Camp. This steep hill becomes an icy slip-n-slide after a few storms. Fortunately, it was a non-issue. In fact, the dirt bike tracks mixing with the small amount of snow actually gave the trail even more traction than it usually has (since it's a dry scree hill in summer.)

Left: the fresh winter woods. Right: the steep hill past Nelson's Camp on #668.

I popped out at the end of 668 at Frosty's Park, feeling better than I did at the base of Kineo, but still a little fatigued in the legs. I had just completed the huge majority of my climbing for the day. I had a brief moment of "oh man, am I going to make it?" But I pushed that thought out of my head. It was basically all downhill from here, so I had nothing to worry about 😅.

I captured a photo of the majestic Mount Rosa, the mountain I was doing a big semi-circle around today.

Mount Rosa from Frosty's Park. 

I started slowly descending on the rocky road 379, trying to find my downhill legs after almost 10 miles of uphill.

I guess you could say I have a strange obsession with long, gradual dirt road descents after steep climbs. I tend to really like runs that go up sharply but descend slowly.

I got down to Gold Camp Road with only a little bit of daylight left.

The sun began to set just as I came to an open area in the road, just past the Penrose-Rosemont Reservoir. I stopped and took a zillion photos. It was breathtaking.

I came to the parking area for St. Peter's Dome just as the last sunlight was fading to the west. And to the east, the city lights shone brightly. What an amazing view, an amazing place, and an amazing day to be alive. 

It was only a little after 5pm, but the road descends sharply into the canyon after the overlook at St. Peter's Dome, so the darkness became immediately all-encompassing. 

Now it was just me and my breath, and a small circle of light in front of me from my headlamp. It was cold enough in the canyon that I could briefly see each exhalation. My world became very small - it was just me, one step after another into the small circle of light in front of me. A feeling of serenity washed over me. My cares and concerns lifted away. All I had to do in this moment was keep jogging easily downhill at my own pace. This was the high that I was looking for earlier! It usually doesn't take until mile 17 to feel this great, but I'll take it.

Around mile 20 or so, the road came out of the canyon and began a short uphill section. The whole city came into view! The light from the city reflected off the clouds and gave just enough light so that I could see all the mountains across on the other side of the canyon. I mused about how depressed I'd felt at mile 6, ready to give up, but how worthwhile this run had ended up being. A few sharp rocks and steep cliffs were accentuated by the city lights behind them, just as the road exited the National Forest. I jogged the last mile on pavement, before Alex came with the kids to pick me up at the end of Old Stage Road.

I ended up with almost 24 miles and a little over 5200 feet elevation gain today.

Today was, again, a reminder for me of why I seek mountain long runs so often. In-town runs can be beautiful and enjoyable too, but I don't often experience the same highs (AND lows) that the mountains give me. Over 20 miles in the mountains often seems much easier to manage than the same distance on paved trails.

I'm so happy that my run ended on a such good note. I'm now sitting at home, peacefully satisfied 😌 and thankful for all I've been able to experience.